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In addition to my affiliate web sites, I have been making and selling a line of products for a little while and I am thinking of starting a web site featuring these items. There is a lot of space for adding more items in this area but I wouldn't actually be making them myself.

My question is, do any of you actually sell a product and fill in any gaps with affiliate programs?

Is it difficult for your customers to understand that item A will ship from a different location than item B(if it's from an affiliate merchant)?

Any suggestions on whether I should or shouldn't attempt this are greatly appreciated.

My merchant sites--> Hell no, no links out, there is no other store of interest on the entire internet, dammit!

sell a product and fill in any gaps with affiliate programs?

If I'm not selling it, it "doesn't exist," as far as my merchant sites are concerned.

The reasonings:
1) To buy from an affiliate link, the customer has to go away. That's fine when you have a straight-up affiliate site, and the only way you make money from them is if they do go away! But, when YOUR register is sitting there waiting for attention, the customers need to be directed to it without distraction.

1a) People who go away before actually buying something, may never get around to coming back. It's counterproductive to give them links off the site.

2) Affiliate program = 10% of the txn. Merchant site = 100% of the txn (minus expenses). There may be a couple of programs where the commission, in raw dollar terms, is actually greater than the profits as a merchant--but in those cases, it's better to expand your own product line. Or, to promote the Highly Profitable Thing on some aff-dedicated site, so the customer doesn't do the either-or scenario.

3) Branding. How hokey and non-confidence-inspiring it would be for a customer to end up at a merchant that is mostly promoting other stores! Might as well call your site ThisIsJustAHobby.com! What's fine or even good for an affiliate site can be toxic to a merchant site.